Shipping folder for books, binders, and the like



Nov. 23, 1965 ZASTROW 3,219,256

SHIPPING FOLDER FOR BOOKS, BINDERS, AND THE LIKE Filed July 15, 1964 2Sheets-Sheet 1 F/ 4 I INVENTOR BY gkt h ORNEY Nov. 23, 1965 H. G.ZASTROW 3,219,256

SHIPPING FOLDER FOR BOOKS, BINDERS, AND THE LIKE Filed July 15, 1964 2Sheets-Sheet 2 30 Z/ 35 3/ 3a Z5 L I Z9 INVENTOR ATTORNEY 3,219,256SHIPPING FOLDER FOR BOOKS, BINDERS, AND THE LIKE Harold G. Zastrow,Minneapolis, Minn, assignor to Waldorf Paper Products Company, St. Paul,Minn, a

corporation of Minnesota Filed July 15, 1964, Ser. No. 382,743 4 Claims.(Cl. 22946) This invention relates to an improvement in folders forbooks, binders, and the like and deals particularly with a shippingcontainer designed to contain a loose-leaf binder.

Books, binders, and the like are oftentimes shipped in sleeves orfolders made of heavy paperboard or corrugated paperboard designed toprotect the surfaces of the book from damage, either during storage, orduring shipping. In shipping large numbers of books, for instancecatalogs from a retailer to a consumer, it is desirable to utilize afolder which is both easy to close and easy to reopen. The folder mustfit snugly around the book or binder to avoid damage during shipment. Itis the purpose of this invention to provide such a folder.

A feature of the present invention lies in forming a bottom wall panel,side wall panels shaped to fit the crosssectional shape of the book andhinged to opposite side edges of the bottom wall panel, and opposed topwall half-panel hinged to the side wall panels and folded into edgeabutting relation. These top wall half-panels are provided at their endedges With a cushioning structure to protect the end edges of the bookor hinder. End closure panels are foldably connected to the ends of thebottom panel and end flaps which are foldably connected to the closurepanels overlie the end edges of the top wall half-panels. Each of theseend flaps includes a locking tongue which extends through a cooperableslot in each top wall half-panel and through a cooperable slot in aspacer panel which slot is in registry with the slot in the top wallhalf-panel. The locking tongues thus serve the double purpose of holdingthe top wall half-panel connected and holding the cushioning padstructure against the ends of the folder contents.

Another feature of the present invention is that the need for gluing ortaping edges has been eliminated. Locking tongues are the sole means forsecuring the folder in shipping or storing position. Therefore, thefolder may be used many times over and yet be reclosed with a minimum ofeffort.

A further feature of the present invention is to provide a folder whichallows a book or hinder to be packed without inserting it in either endof a tubular container. In the present invention the book or binder issimply placed on the folder and the folder is then folded around thebook in such a way as to effect a snug fit and thereby give addedprotection to the book. The book or hinder need not he slid into thefolder after the folder has been made up.

A further feature of the present invention is the adaptability of thefolder to any of several size books or binders. For example, a looseleafbinder generally has a greater thickness at the binder edge than it hasat the outside edge. It is therefore desirable to provide a container orfolder which fits around and snugly contains this looseleaftrapezoidally-shaped binder. By supplying side panels, which are shapedin the same form as the crossted States Patent 3,219,256 Patented Nov.23, 1965 ice section of the loose-leaf binder, the folder may simply bewrapped around the binder, and it will conform exactly to the dimensionsof the binder.

Another feature of this invention is that the locking tongues may beplaced outside of the closure fitting around the book or hinder.Therefore, there is no interference with the book or binder from thelocking tongues.

These and other objects and novel features of the present invention willbe more clearly and fully set forth in the following specification andclaims.

In the drawings forming a part of the specification:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the folder in closed position.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of an end of the folder shown in FIGURE 1in partially closed position.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the folder shown in FIGURE 1 in openposition.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view of the folder in FIGURE 1, the position ofthe section being indicated by the line 44 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 5 is a diagrammatic view of the blank from which the folder isformed.

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view of the folder in FIGURE 1 the position ofthe section being indicated by the line 66 of FIGURE 1.

The manner in which the folder is made in blank form is illustrated bestin FIGURE 5. The folder includes three wall panels 11, 12, 13, and afourth Wall which is formed by combining the half-panels 10 and 14. Topwall half panel 10 is foldably connected to side wall panel 11 alongfold line 15. Side wall panel 11 is foldably connected to bottom wallpanel 12 along fold line 16, bottom panel 12 is foldably connected toside wall panel 13 along fold line 17, and half wall panel 14 isfoldably connected to side wall panel 13 along fold line 18.

Top wall half-panels 10 and 14 which, in the drawings, form the top wallof the folder are foldably connected to spacer panels 22 along closelyspaced parallel fold lines 19 and 20. Cushion panels 21 are foldablyconnected to spacer panels 22 along fold lines 23, support flaps 24 arefoldably connected to cushion panels 21 along fold lines 25. The foldlines 23 and 25 are parallel to the fold lines 19 and 20.

End tabs 26 are foldably connected to the ends of side wall panels 11and 13 along fold line 27. The fold line 27 may be an extension of foldline 28 if the contents of the folder are rectangular, and are slightlyangled from fold line 28 in the construction shown.

Closure panels 29 are foldably connected to bottom wall panel 12 alongfold lines 28. End flaps 30 are foldably connected to closure panel 29along fold line 31, locking tongues 34 are foldably connected to endflaps 30 along fold lines 36.

Top wall half-panels 1t) and 14 include slots 33 adapted to receivelocking tongues 34. Spacer panels 22 include slots 35 also adapted toreceive locking tongues 34. Slots 35 register with slots 33 when thespacer panels 22 are in face contact with the under surfaces of the topwall half-panels 10 and 14.

As seen in FIGURE 3 the folder is opened to receive a book, hinder, orsimilar objects. A loose-leaf binder B is diagrammatically shown asresting on bottom panel 12. In the instant drawing, the side wall panels11 and 13 are trapezoidally shaped to permit the folder to snuglycontain the binder when the folder is in closed position.

As seen in FIGURE 4 the loose-leaf binder B is snugly enclosed by thefolder as shown by this cross section of FIGURE 1.

To close the folder, spacer panel 22 is folded inwardly 180 along foldlines 19 and 20 into face contact with top wall half-panels and 14. Inthis position, slot 35 is in registry with slot 33. Cushion panel 21 isthen folded upwardly along fold line 23 to a position perpendicular totop wall half-panels 10 and 14. The width of cushion panel 21 issubstantially equivalent to the width of the side Wall panels 11 and 13.Support flap 24 is folded outwardly along fold line 25 to a positionparallel with top wall half-panels 10 and 14.

Side wall panel 11 is folded inwardly along fold line 16 and side wallpanel 13 is folded inwardly along fold line 17. Top wall half-panels 10and 14 are then folded inwardly along fold lines 15 and 18 respectivelyto a position perpendicular to side wall panels 11 and 13 respectively.A support flap 19 is in face contact with bottom wall panel 12.

As indicated in the perspective view in FIGURE 2 the folder is partiallyclosed. To completely close the folder, end flaps 26 are folded inwardlyalong fold line 27. Closure panel 29 is folded inwardly along fold line28 to a position overlying the end edges of top wall halfpanels 10 and14 and overlying end tabs 26. End flap 30 is then folded inwardly alongfold line 31 into face contact with top wall half-panels 10 and 14.Locking tongues 34 are folded inwardly along fold lines 36 and placedthrough locking tongue receiving slots 33 and 35, which are in registry,thereby securely locking top wall halfpanels together and securelyholding cushion panels 21 in place.

In accordance with the patent statutes, I have described the principlesof construction and operation of my folder for binders, books, and thelike, and while I have endeavored to set forth the best embodimentthereof, I desire to have it understood that obvious changes may be madewithin the scope of the following claims without departing from thespirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. A shipping container for books, binders and the like including:

(a) four wall panels connected in tubular relation including:

(1) a bottom wall panel,

(2) two side wall panels hingedly attached to said bottom Wall panel,and

(3) a top wall panel including two top wall halfpanels each of which ishingedly connected to said side wall panel and each including a slotadapted to receive a locking tongue,

(b) an end closure assembly at each end of said four wall panelsincluding:

(1) a closure panel hingedly connected so said bottom wall panel,

(2) an end flap hingedly connected to said closure panel, and

(3) locking tongues hingedly connected to said end flap, and

(c) a protective cushion assembly at each end of said four wall panelsincluding:

(1) a spacer panel hingedly connected to each said top wall half-paneland folded in face contact to the inside of said top wall half-panel,and

(2) a cushion panel hingedly connected to each said spacer panel andarranged in a plane substantially perpendicular to said bottom panel.

2. A shipping container for books, binders and the like including:

(a) four wall panels connected in tubular relation including:

(1) a bottom Wall panel of rectangular shape,

(2) two side wall panels of trapezoidal shape hingedly attached to saidbottom wall panel, and

(3) a top wall panel including two top wall halfpanels each of which ishingedly connected to said side wall panel and each including a slotadapted to receive a locking tongue,

(b) an end closure assembly at each end of said four wall panelsincluding:

(1) a closure panel hingedly connected to said said bottom wall panel,

(2) an end flap hingedly connected to said closure panel, and

(3) locking tongues hingedly connected to said end flap, and

(c) a protective cushion assembly at each end of said four wall panelsincluding:

(1) a spacer panel including a slot for receiving said locking tonguehingedly connected to each said top wall half-panel and folded in facecontact to the inside of said top wall half-panel positioning said slottherein in registry with the slot in said top wall half-panel, and

(2) a cushion panel hingedly connected to each said spacer panel andarranged in a plane substantially perpendicular to said bottom panel.

3. A shipping container for books, binders and the like including:

(a) four wall panels connected in tubular relation including:

(1) a bottom wall panel of rectangular shape,

(2) two side wall panels of trapezoidal shape hingedly attached to saidbottom wall panel, and

(3) a top wall panel including two top wall halfpanels each of which ishingedly connected to said side wall panel and each including a slotadapted to receive a locking tongue,

(b) an end closure assembly at each end of said four Wall panelsincluding:

(1) a closure panel hingedly connected to said bottom wall panel,

(2) an end flap hingedly connected to said closure panel, and

(3) locking tongues hingedly connected to said end flap, and

(c) a protective cushion assembly at each end of said four wall panelsincluding:

(1) a spacer panel including a slot for receiving said locking tonguehingedly connected to each said top wall half-panel and folded in facecontact to the inside of said top wall half-panel positioning said slottherein in registry with the slot in said top wall half-panel,

(2) a cushion panel hingedly connected to each said spacer panel andarranged in a plane substantially perpendicular to said bottom panel,and

(3) a support flap hingedly connected to said cushion panel, arranged ina plane parallel to said bottom wall panel, in face contact therewithand folded forward towards said end closure panel.

4. A shipping container for books, binders and the like including:

(a) four wall panels connected in tubular relation including:

(1) a bottom wall panel,

(2) two side wall panels hingedly connected to said bottom wall panel,and

(3) a top wall panel including two top wall halfpanels each of which ishingedly connected to said side wall panel and each including cooperablelocking means adapted to engage and hold a closure panel in closedposition,

5 6 (b) a protective cushion assembly at each end of said (2) cooperablelocking means adapted to engage four wall panels including: said topwall panel locking means to hold said (1) a spacer panel hingedlyconnected to each closure panel in closed position.

said top wall half-panel and folded to face contact to the inside ofsaid top wall half-panel, 5 References Clted by the Examiner (2) acushion panel hingedly connected to each UNITED STATES PATENTS saidspacer panel and arranged in a plane sub- 1,039,026 9/1912 Carter.stantially perpendicular to said bottom panel, 2,682,949 7/1954Whitehead. and 3,055,574 9/1962 Johnson 22940 (c) an end closureassembly at each end of said four 10 3,110,435 11/1963 Layne 229-40 wallpanels including: 3,125,258 3/1964 Watts.

(1) a closure panel hingedly connected to said bottom all panel, andFRANKLIN T. GARRETT, Primary Examiner.

1. A SHIPPING CONTAINER FOR BOOKS, BINDERS AND THE LIKE INCLUDING: (A)FOUR WALL PANELS CONNECTED IN TUBULAR RELATION INCLUDING: (1) A BOTTOMWALL PANEL, (2) TWO SIDE WALL PANELS HINGEDLY ATTACHED TO SAID BOTTOMWALL PANEL, AND (3) A TOP WALL PANEL INCLUDING TWO WALL HALFPANELS EACHOF WHICH IS HINGEDLY CONNECTED TO SAID SIDE WALL PANEL AND EACHINCLUDING A SLOT ADAPTED TO RECEIVE A LOCKING TONGUE, (B) AN END CLOSUREASSEMBLY AT EACH END OF SAID FOUR WALL PANELS INCLUDING: (1) A CLOSUREPANEL HINGEDLY CONNECTED SO SAID BOTTOM WALL PANEL, (2) AN END FLAPHINGEDLY CONNECTED TO SAID CLOSURE PANEL, AND